Ericsson will equip Malaysia’s special 5G wholesale company Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) with its new antenna-integrated radio AIR 3268, which it claimed will reduce energy consumption for the country's national 5G network.
Ericsson head of Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, David Hagebro said in a statement: “The new generation radios that will be deployed throughout Malaysia by Digital Nasional Berhad will be comparatively more energy efficient, thereby ensuring a more sustainable and responsible 5G rollout.”
Ericsson detailed DNB will be the first company in Asia to use AIR 3268 which it claimed delivers 18% more energy efficient than previous generation equipment.
The latest equipment is “lightweight” at 12kg and 23 litres and is the “smallest” massive MIMO radio designed for 5G mid-band Massive MIMO performance.
Malaysia set up DNB in 2021 to accelerate the deployment of 5G networks and reach the full potential of the technology, which the government predicted will deliver RMB150 billion (US$33bn) in GDP growth by 2030.
Malaysia set up DNB as a single wholesaler to cut down build-out costs of deployments, which has the company noted accounts for 80% of operator expenditure when deploying.
Ericsson was chosen as Malaysia’s exclusive 5G supplier in 2021.
DNB was under pressure to bring back all operators on side with its disruptive 5G network wholesale model, in which operators have an even stake in the special company. Maxis and U Mobile apparently declined their shares, reported Reuters.
